tall boot shopping: Euro-style

Shopping for tall boots is a little bit like shopping for a saddle in some ways.

All that new leather. Fun detailing and accent options. Prices that range from "economical" (bunny ears fully intentional) to exorbitant. From off the rack to fully bespoke, and everything in between. And, naturally, multi-dimensional fit issues.

mmmmm boooots

At least with tall boots, it's generally a little bit easier for us to decide whether we can live with the fit of our boot, vs testing out various saddle fittings on the horse.

my first pair of brown euro boots - the mondonis. not a great shot of them in action, but a damn good shot of izzy <3

Personally, I tend to be a bit of a boring shopper. Virtually all of my tack is second hand. Like my PS of Sweden dressage bridle that used to belong to Aimee's Courage, before passing to Isabel and eventually Charlie. Or my Mark Todd jump bridle in the Dy'on style, passed down from Amanda's own big brown awkward-but-awesome Charlie.

my second pair, the HKMs.  yep i wear my brown boots with my black tack. sue me. 

Likewise, my Bates Caprilli jump saddle was purchased for Isabel (luckily it's a better fit for Charlie than it ever was for Iz), and my Hulsebos dressage saddle was custom made for my trainer P's well-loved giant old thoroughbred Torb.

Essentially everything else Charlie wears was either purchased on the cheap (I thank my lucky stars every day that the horse has very very decidedly specific tastes for elastic fuzzy girths haha) or purchased used.

L: Just Togs Kensington; R: Just Togs Buckingham

For instance, his Kentucky cross country boots and all of his bits (Herm Sprenger and Myler) are all high quality, and all purchased second hand.

Actually probably the only high-end piece of Charlie's gear that was purchased "new" are the Stubben Maxi-Grip stirrup irons I picked up at the Kentucky Horse Park last year. Bc I fully admit to being a bit of a stirrup iron junkie haha. But even those were acquired for a song after I bargained with the reps for the floor demos...

L: Mondoni Whitehaven; R: Eq Lusso Valente

When it comes to my own attire.... Well. It's safe to say I'm not exactly up to date on the latest trends haha. All my breeches are pretty old at this point, saggy and worn out. Desperately in need of updating.

But I'm one of those shoppers who can't bear to replace an item until it's totally and fully done-zo. Esp bc.... let's be real, I'm pretty hard on my gear and I don't take the best care of it anyway.

L: Horka Lizz; R: Horka Tiffany

Tall boots therefore are sorta an interesting item in my lineup. I prefer tall boots to chaps. And I happen to like them brown, thankyouverymuch. But I also want them priced around ~$200 or less, available in my size off the rack, comfortable enough for all day wear, and good enough quality to last around 2 years.

And during those 2 years? Those boots are gonna take a beating. They *will* trudge through the deep mud in Charlie's field, and be worn in the rain or for 10hrs at a time, and must survive long droughts between cleaning and conditioning.

L: Horka Sarah; R: Brogini New Capitoli

Shopping for those specifications (brown, my size, and ~$200) in the US has been.... basically a non starter. The two biggest options you see available are the Ariats and the Mountain Horse boots, but neither fit the budget. If you go outside the US tho??? It's a whooooooole 'nother ball game haha.

L: QHP Shiva; M: QHP Verena; R: QHP Sophia

Idk why. Maybe bc US equestrian style has been so fully co-opted by hunter jumper equitation? Maybe there just isn't enough demand?? Who knows. What's for damn certain tho is that if you start browsing around other retailers, esp those in the UK and Europe, right off the bat you can start filtering boot options by color.

who doesn't love that moment of bated breath before you open the box - hoping they're not duds!

And there are WAY more brands. Like, all sorts of brands I've never heard of (tho again, nobody is accusing me of being a well-versed style maven #fulldisclosure), at pretty good prices.

I got my start with overseas boot shopping with my Mondoni Kingstons from Divosa. Those were good boots that served me well over the years. When they finally finally died (probably long after most other reasonable people would have discarded them haha... actually, ok, I admit, they're still in the trunk of my car just in case of one of those days when, 'oops I need a pair of boots!'), I found myself immediately fed up with shopping the standard US retailers and brands.

first impression? *not* duds lol, and actually not orange at all either!

Nothing my price, and nothing that looked quite right size-wise. In fairness, my calves were at that time pushing the limit of what's reasonable to expect off the rack. But I was determined. And, uh, also broke haha. So back to browsing overseas again.

leather is soft, details are nice! elastic panel also key haha

To be honest, I don't know a lot about overseas retailers - it's not like I had a catalog of them to browse through, ya know? Turns out, tho, when you start googling some of those less-familiar boot brands (like Brogini, Mondoni, Horka, HKM, QHP) -- maybe looking for reviews or size guides - other retailers start popping up in your search results.

In this manner, I discovered the HKMs I eventually purchased from Tackville in 2017. Being real, these weren't really my favorite boots from an aesthetic perspective while I was shopping. The color was meh, they were dress boots when I would have preferred field boots, and they seemed kinda boring. BUT. The calf dimensions looked good.

they're gonna be a bear to keep clean but idc

And they were good! Those boots actually lasted a lot better than I would have expected, and were super comfortable. I wore them for everything. Trail riding. Trekking through the fields. Lessons. Competitions. All of it. But sadly, after about 18mos, the zipper (clogged with dirt, no doubt) finally bit the dust. Sadness!

I wasn't expecting a new boot purchase so soon, but them's the breaks. It works out tho bc considering the HKMs had been priced like the tall boot equivalent of Target skinny jeans, it wasn't really all that heartbreaking financially when they bit it.

the website made it seem like they could turn out pretty orange, esp with that 'airbrushed' patina effect. the color is nice tho! as is the leather. it should condition well.

This time around, I knew the shopping would be a little bit easier, mostly bc my calves are smaller again (finally, thank the lort). While I did do a cursory search of Riding Warehouse, Smartpak and Dover (just in case!) I didn't waste a lot of time there. It was right back out to the euro outlets, looking for my next pair of euro trash boots haha.

My searches took me back to the Familiar Divosa and Tackville mentioned above, but also further afield when a google search brought up Derby House.

it's a nicely made boot with attractive details and mostly pleasant materials for the price - but still a cheap zipper that will need to be handled with care lest it go the way of the HKMs.... #gonetoosoon

The thing I love about all of these retailers is that most of their sites have search filters for all the right features: foot size, calf size and color.

I'm an almost unbelievably standard US 7 in women's shoes, and have found this conversion chart fairly helpful. I'm also back to being just on the cusp between a regular and wide/full calf, generally choosing wide and not regretting it. And of course, as I previously mentioned, I'm interested in brown boots plz. lol...

they fit!!! #catapproved

This time around there were endless temptations. Mondoni has a knock off variation of the Mountain Horse Sovereigns, for instance. Horka had quite a few options on Tackville that looked nice, tho alas not exactly in my specifications. Brogini also had a couple that looked intriguing, and Just Togs had an option with silicon grips on the calf that were miiiiighty cool haha.

roomy in the foot bed, fitted through the ankle and calf, and actually a nice height (will get better pics eventually i promise)

I decided to take a little risk tho and go light. Cognac light, to be specific. On one hand, they could have shown up being pumpkin orange. On the other hand tho, presuming they were actually truly leather as advertised, they'd probably darken with oil if needed.

Plus, idk, I dig the detailing. So. The QHP Wide Sophias won my red rose this time around ;)

And? I like them! And they fit!

and obvi the best part of unboxing??

They were listed as a UK 5 / EUR 38, and the foot bed is slightly roomy but comfortable for my US 7 feet. The wide calf zipped up both boots on the first try (with breeches on), tho obvi I was a little careful haha. And the height is good - the backs of the boots don't dig in behind my knee, but meanwhile the Spanish top is pronounced enough that I'm not worried about dropping too far.

The leather is also a lot nicer than I expected - quite soft and not at all plastic-y like the HKMs were. These are definitely the nicest of my euro boot collection thus far, at $220 shipped (remember, US buyers don't pay the VAT included in prices when shopping over seas). Shipping took a slow-but-not-interminable 11 days.

cats in boxes!

So this isn't really a review of the boots, per se, considering they're brand new and unproven at this point lol. But in terms of reviewing the process? I give it 5 stars. Buying my tall boots from overseas retailers has been a resounding success, and clearly something I'm happy to repeat.

From a budgetary, fit, and style perspective, I'm very happy to be able to consistently find boots that satisfy my wish list. And this way it's easy to get boots that nobody else (in the US, at least) is wearing without having to go custom.

Have you purchased tack, gear or attire overseas? Did the experience leave you feeling satisfied and eager for more? Or did it turn you off? Or maybe you've had different experiences depending on what (or from where) you purchased?

Are you like me when it comes to shopping, frugal to a fault? Or maybe you swing the full opposite direction, investing whole hog up front so you never have to revisit the same well?